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# When the Designer Goes Away
- URL: https://www.andrewboardman.com/newsletter/when-the-designer-goes-away/
- Published: 2026-11-03T19:23:20.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T19:23:20.000Z
- Description: On being "out of office"
- Author: Andrew Boardman
- Tags: Newsletter

Dear Designer,

I was at RGD’s [Design Thinkers](https://www.designthinkers.com/?ref=andrewboardman.com) conference in Toronto a few weeks ago.

The theme this year was “Out of Office” and the many speakers, and participants, parsed the meaning of the topic in unique ways. I’ve been arguing for designers to focus more on being “out of office.” Advocating for more [personal projects](https://www.andrewboardman.com/newsletter/on-being-seen/), more time focused on [mental and physical health](https://www.andrewboardman.com/newsletter/on-mental-health-exercise-and-design-systems/), and more reading and [writing](https://www.andrewboardman.com/newsletter/please-write/), the “out of office” concept resonated with me.

When a designer is “out of office,” they give themselves the opportunity to flex newfound muscles, build up recently discovered habits, create new narratives, and more generally create a life of art, leisure and love. This pursuit is laudable and what I want for all of us.

However, being “out of office” as a designer can also have deleterious effects, both immediate and downstream. Being "out" for a long period or because of illness, for instance, can be difficult, maddening and demoralizing.

And if you’re out of office more permanently, as some leading figures in the AI industry are predicting, we are in new territory. In their most dramatic forecasts, knowledge workers like us find themselves fully “ooo".

It worries everyone I talk with, including me.

The social reformation that they are touting is frightening; in some cases, they [deliberately seek](https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2025/05/more-everything-forever-adam-becker-book-review/682951/?gift=zxdU7L6MPUzOEbOtX10L6UR0zDJKrPHK6ACQqGR4mUA&utm%5Fsource=copy-link&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fcampaign=share) (gift link) to create mass layoffs.

But, if we let ourselves explore this for just a moment, it offers up interesting options. In the techno-utopian framing, citizens are supported by universal basic income and we will have the privilege of doing... whatever. (“Painting” seems to be the activity that comes up in polite circles; having gone to school many years ago for painting, that sounds delightful, on the surface.)

Yet there is a huge difference between choosing rest and being subjected to imposed worklessness. If being “out of office” involuntarily is the logical conclusion of this century's rampant technological progress, what does that mean for our work, and our identity?

For our work as designers, it may mean that we take a new role in the grand history of using visual communications to create social change, or to entertain, or to instruct. Many designers currently either do not like their jobs or the organizations who employ them. Would a *living*, fairly paid for by our governments (and the AI monopolies that, I believe, took our content, code, and creations) create a *life*?

Part of me wants to think that UBI, if implemented well, could bring greater freedom to our lives and greater equality throughout societies. Being “out of office” as a worker could mean retiring at 30 to transform our economy, to form new political or social collaboratives, or to live more locally.

I don’t know if paid unemployment or forced leisure are a gift or a threat or both. But the possibility spurs new thinking for us, today. Rather than waiting to see how the industry shifts, we can choose to define who we are now.

I leave you with a question: *Who are you when the designer in you goes away?*

Wishing you a good rest of the week.

Yours,

![Andrew's signature in pencil](https://www.andrewboardman.com/content/images/2026/10/ab-sign-2-1.png)